The present invention relates to an apparatus for calendering cords such as tire steel cords with elastomeric or rubber-like materials without causing any curling of the coated cords.
In a calendering process in a tire manufacturing plant, tire steel cords are pulled out from spools in a creel stand, pass through a main guide board having holes for a first step arrangement of cords, and are then pinched by a comb-roll for a second arrangement. Then they are coated with rubber-like material by a set of calender rolls. When a creel stand having a narrow width is located in front of a main guide board, the quality of the coated cords is good. The coated cords have no tendency to curl.
If the creel stand is located at a diagonal position against the main guide board, however, the cords chafe the corners of the holes or nozzles in the main guide board even if the corners are rounded. As a result of that chafing, the coated cords tend to curl. The important points are the angles between the projection of the cords to a horizontal plane and the center line of the guide board on the same plane. The vertical distance between a hole of the main guide board and the corresponding spool of the creel stand is not so critical because most creel stands are designed with a low height. This noted angulation causes the difficulty in handling the coated cords. The same problem may occur with a wide creel stand because the angles (details of which discussed herein) the cords emanating from the spools at the side portion of the creel stand are large.